A legislator has filed a bill calling for the immediate passage of the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, which seeks to guarantee fundamental rights, benefits and comprehensive protection for the thousands of sea-based Filipino workers worldwide.
“Filipino seafarers willingly enter their profession fully aware of the dangers nature can pose. But when the hardships they face arise from the acts of men, and not the acts of God, there must be widespread action to assure their security and safety, as well as to ensure that their rights as laborers-in-the-sea are protected,” said Sen. Sonny Angara said.
As one of the authors of the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, Angara said the Philippines has been the world’s top supplier of seafarers since 1987, accounting for some 400,000 or a fourth of the 1.5 million seafarers worldwide.
The latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas report showed that remittances by sea-based workers totaled to $5.5 billion last year.
The acting labor committee chairman cited reports early this year that 21 Filipino seafarers— said to be onboard Bulk Brasil, a Panamanian-registered vessel docked at Port Kembla in New South Wales—were stranded without food and with unpaid salaries for four months.
5 comments
Dapat lang na nbigyan sila ng sapat na proteksyon at karapantan dahil ang hiap magtrabaho sa gitnang dagat.
May sapat din dapat silang pahinga. At ang mga leave nila. para naman makasama nila ang kanilang pamilya.
Malaking tulong ang pagsulong ng Magna Carta for the seafarer. Maraming benefits ang maaari nilang makuha.
Dapat din na maging responsable ang mga may-ari ng ship sa kalusugan ng kanilang empleyado.and also medical care and treatment and compensation in case of death or long-term disability
There must be widespread action to assure their security and safety, as well as to ensure that their rights as laborers-in-the-sea are protected,